L35, L48 or something smaller?

[JATO_RaT]

Buster, that is a perfect application for HST and where some folks feel the lag time on a GST is a real issue. Littlediesel talks of changing gears on his HST, I almost always leave mine in medium range, throttle at a nice low 1700 RPM never wide open as all my torque is at 1700 RPM and don't forget, you control how fast you go with the HST pedal, one of the reasons for not needing to change gears. The more you push, the faster you go. Low on the L48 is so low that its usefulness for me is limited to very demanding situations as medium will do almost anything. Shifting into high does require a full stop but I have found that that transition is made after I have my full load in a bucket am ready to back out and only when I am going a great distance. The L48 with hoe can be had in the low $30,000 range. The L35 in the high $20,000. Rat...

 

[Buster57]

RAT,
Thanks for the response.
It’s still too early to go for my checkbook, but I think I know what I’m buying next!

 

[littlediesel]

Rat,
You talk about changing your speed with the HST with the pedal. Be careful not to mis-inform people. You can not get the entire speed range of the machine in one gear and full movement of the pedal.

Maybe the L48 has a different gear range than the B21 or B2910. I could not get the full use of the machine in one convenient gear range. I found myself shifting from low to high range almost all the time. I entering into a pile of dirt in low range, but need to shift to high range to transport to my destination.

I would love to try the L48 to compare to the other machines!

Jon

 

[JATO_RaT]

Jon, I hope most folks understand what I mean by the 3 ranges in HST. You cannot get the entire speed range in one gear, if thats the way it read then I did a lousy job explaining it, but then, it would not be the first time. I must admit I knew little about HST several years ago and might not have even known that it had various ranges. In medium range you have an infinite range of speed with an obvious maximum. As I mentioned, medium range on my tractor has a top speed of about 7 mph at full RPM. It also has Zero to 7 mph and everything in between. This is also true of low and high with both having a maximum top speed. About 4 mph in low and 17 mph in high at rated RPM. The speed within each range is governed by two componets. The engine RPM and the amount you depress the hydrostatic pedal. Its not unusual for me to run at or below 1700 RPM. This is the RPM that I have determined has the optimum performance in relationship to torque. After my tractor starts slowing down while moving into a pile of dirt, adding more fuel/throttle rarely changes the characteristics. Adding more throttle simply increases my travel speed with little extra torque
You mention needing low on your tractor, a range that has very limited use for me, even on the steepest hill medium is sufficient. Anyway, for those not familiar with HST, it takes more then a jog around the dealers parking lot to get the true feel of how it works. I would say after about 40 hours, I was quite proficient with it, now with hundreds, I feel like a pro. I still use my manual every week to mow, and still feel it to be a very valuable tractor, in fact, better at mowing the easy stuff then my L48. Where I use the L48 is around my pond which has steep sides. Here I feel the HST offers me incredible benefits. The benefit of GST for me would surely be with all my mowing. I am curious how the new Kubota electronic GST will perform. Still waiting to hear from those who have purchased the L30 series tractors for their comments. I understand it has less lag time between shifts which seems to be important for folks on slopes. Rat...

 

[Tags]

Whoa!! Lots of good points being made here,just thought I'd ramble a bit too....When I had my L35 a friend of mine told me to get rid of it and get an HST tractor,I thought he was nuts,and told him to try the 35 because it was better.Now that I have a machine with an HST I'd never go back,for loader work there is nothing more efficent,especially when loading a truck.As far as shifting between the ranges,I,like Rat,stay in medium range almost all the time,if I need to go a bit faster and I already have the pedal matted,I just up the throttle a bit to get more speed.The only reason I could see shifting between ranges alot would be if you were moving material over a long distance.What would really be nice is the LST(load sensing transmission) trannies that Bota puts in their R420 and R520 loaders,you start slapping those puppies in compact tractors and you'll really see some happy tractor folk!The real deal is this....NOBODY makes the perfect do-all machine,they're getting close,but they're not there yet,it's probably good they don't though,cause if they did ,what would we talk about here /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

 

[JATO_RaT]

"....NOBODY makes the perfect do-all machine,they're getting close,but they're not there yet,it's probably good they don't though,cause if they did ,what would we talk about here "

WOMEN,, jokes, politics and religion are out, hehehe...

Nice comment Mr Tags, glad you could make it, Rat

 

[DavidInNH]

I agree - I almost never need to use anything but medium with my L48. I might use high for visiting the neighbor, but low has seen very little use.

 

[DavidInNH]

Blake,

Here is another picture of an L48 with a hoe.
No, I couldn't lift that rock out of the hole, but I could move it from side to side without too much trouble. I managed to lower it enought that I won't be stubbing my toe anymore /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[littlediesel]

Looks like a job for a B21!!!!!!

 

[JATO_RaT]

Thanks for the picture David, I removed of comparable size boulder from my neighbors horse stall. For all these years it was smack dad in the middle of the horse paddock. He said he sure wished they had built the barn just a little further from that big boulder, it got me to thinking and well, he doesn't have it there anymore, Rat